Ten sensational days and nights of pre-code crime, proto-noir, and film noir featuring thirty classics and curios spanning the years 1932 to 1965. These incredible films have been pulled from the vaults of the Warner Archive and programmed exclusively for the Roxie Theater by Elliot Lavine.This year’s I WAKE UP DREAMING cavalcade will be the first ever presented entirely in DIGITAL. The Roxie Theater boasts one of the most outstanding digital projection systems in San Francisco and these specially prepared and supervised digital transfers are guaranteed to look astonishing on the big screen — where they belong!I WAKE UP DREAMING is committed to the idea that classic motion pictures are best viewed on a big screen in a large dark room full of complete strangers. It is our hope that programmers and exhibitors everywhere will explore the seemingly limitless number of films now available to movie theaters in the digital format. ————————–

After an ambitious newspaper reporter’s testimony sends a hapless cabbie to death row for a murder he didn’t commit, pangs of guilt begin to set in. When the reporter suddenly finds himself on trial for murder, the wheels of injustice yet again spin madly out of control. Widely considered to be the first true American studio noir film, this brilliantly realized B picture is a veritable catalog of nearly every noir convention that would follow. Starring John McGuire, Margaret Tallichet, Elisha Cook, Jr. and Peter Lorre as the stranger. Photographed by Nicholas Musuraca. Written by Frank Partos. Directed by Boris Ingster. In B&W. 65 mins. 1940.

At 6:30pm and 9:50pm

….plus:

THE UNSUSPECTED

Could the on-air host of a popular mystery radio program actually be a cold-blooded homicidal killer? The caustic wit of the screenplay nearly overshadows the gothic weirdness of the film itself in one of Hollywood’s great unsung and nearly forgotten noir classics; vividly atmospheric and beautifully played by a stellar Warner Bros. cast including Claude Rains, Joan Caulfield, Audrey Totter, Hurd Hatfield, Constance Bennett. Photographed by Elwood “Woody” Bredell. From the novel by Charlotte Armstrong. Directed by Michael Curtiz. In B&W. 103 mins. 1947.

At 8:00pm only!————-
Tickets are good for one or both movies.
—

I WAKE UP DREAMING — Ten sensational days and nights of pre-code crime, proto-noir, and film noir featuring thirty classics and curios spanning the years 1932 to 1965. These incredible films have been pulled from the vaults of the Warner Archive and programmed exclusively for the Roxie Theater by Elliot Lavine.

“At its heart, DOCUMENTED asks what it means to be American. The film succeeds because it moves well beyond an abstract debate about the very timely subject. It lets us get to know a living person caught in the middle of it.” – Mark Collins, Daily Camera

“A moving and intimate work…” – Matt Brennan, IndieWIRE

In 2011, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas outed himself as an undocumented immigrant in the New York Times Magazine. DOCUMENTED chronicles his journey to America from the Philippines as a child; his journey through America as an immigration reform activist/provocateur; and his journey inward as he re-connects with his mother, whom he hasn’t seen in 20 years. Written and directed by Jose Antonio Vargas. Digital. 2013, 89 mins..

“To me, politics is culture. I became a journalist, and later, a filmmaker, to get to know my adoptive country and my volatile place in it as a gay, undocumented, Filipino American. As a newcomer to America who learned to “speak American” by watching movies, I firmly believe that to change the politics of immigration and citizenship, we must change culture—the way we portray undocumented people like me and our role in society. That’s why I felt compelled to take charge of my own narrative and write, produce, and direct DOCUMENTED. This film, to me, is as much an artistic statement as it is a political one: I am not the “illegal” you think I am, and immigration is not what you think it is.” – Jose Antonio Vargas

A down and dirty crime confection about racketeers, Broadway floozies and hard-living newspaper columnists living in the kind of pre-code movie world where someone just might get away with murder. Peppered with enough salty cynicism to spice a dozen films, this is exactly the kind of picture that helped introduce the noir sensibility. Starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Ann Dvorak, Lee Tracy, Frances Dee, Lyle Talbot. Photographed by Sid Hickox. Directed by William Wellman. In B&W. 72 mins. 1932.

At 2:00pm only!

….plus:

LADIES THEY TALK ABOUT

Sexy and sassy gun moll Nan Taylor is tossed into San Quentin after a bank heist. Things look pretty bleak until she learns that her two male partners in crime are on the men’s side of the wall — and about to hatch an escape plan. One of the first and best of the pre-code women in prison films, still and always a crowd pleaser! Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Preston Foster, Lyle Talbot, Dorothy Burgess, Lillian Roth. Photographed by John Seitz. Directed by Howard Bretherton, William Keighley. In B&W. 69 mins. 1933.

At 3:30pm only!————-
Tickets are good for one or both movies.
—

I WAKE UP DREAMING — Ten sensational days and nights of pre-code crime, proto-noir, and film noir featuring thirty classics and curios spanning the years 1932 to 1965. These incredible films have been pulled from the vaults of the Warner Archive and programmed exclusively for the Roxie Theater by Elliot Lavine.

What begins as an innocent attraction between two strangers–a respectable, married doctor and a nightclub singer–quickly festers into a sizzling love affair. In a moment of madness a treacherous scheme is born that will signal danger and doom. Dazzling, brilliantly filmed romantic noir, long unappreciated and certainly due for exposure at the Roxie! Starring Ann Sheridan, Kent Smith, Bruce Bennett, Robert Alda, Wanda Hendrix. Photographed by James Wong Howe. Directed by Vincent Sherman. In B&W. 111 mins. 1947.

At 5:15pm and 9:45pm

….plus:

THE UNFAITHFUL

With her husband out of town, a happily married woman is attacked in her home one night and in the struggle manages to kill the intruder. Gradually a strange and shocking backstory is revealed that could destroy the lives of several people. A brooding and provocative tale of gathering menace, from an original screenplay by noir maestro David Goodis. Starring Ann Sheridan, Zachary Scott, Lew Ayres, Eve Arden. Photographed by Ernest Haller. Directed by Vincent Sherman. In B&W. 109 mins.

At 7:30pm only!————-
Tickets are good for one or both movies.
—

I WAKE UP DREAMING — Ten sensational days and nights of pre-code crime, proto-noir, and film noir featuring thirty classics and curios spanning the years 1932 to 1965. These incredible films have been pulled from the vaults of the Warner Archive and programmed exclusively for the Roxie Theater by Elliot Lavine.

The Bowery Boys find themselves up to their scruffy necks in robbery and murder in this unusually dark and violent entry in the popular lowbrow comedy series. Monogram produced an amazing 48 films in this series between 1946 and 1958 and this early one is one of the best. Starring Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell, Mickey Knox, Bernard Gorcey. Photographed by Marcel Le Picard. Directed by Jean Yarbrough. In B&W. 63 mins. 1949.

At 2:00pm only!

….plus:

FALL GUY

A young man, covered in blood and whacked out on cocaine is picked up by the cops. But he can’t remember a thing about what happened the night before or how that pretty young girl he was spotted with earlier turned up dead. A desperate escape in the night to find the truth offers only the dimmest hope. Starring Leo Penn, Robert Armstrong, Teala Loring, Elisha Cook, Jr. Photographed by Mack Stengler. Based on the story “Cocaine” by Cornell Woolrich. Directed by Reginald Le Borg. In B&W. 64 mins. 1947.

At 3:15pm only!

…and:

WHEN STRANGERS MARRY aka BETRAYED

An innocent young woman arrives in the big city to meet her new husband. But a series of recent mysterious, motiveless murders seem to have a strange connection to him. Is the man she thought she trusted a homicidal maniac? Perhaps the most famous and critically revered of all Monogram films, a highly stylish and stimulating noir classic. Starring Kim Hunter, Robert Mitchum, Dean Jagger, Neil Hamilton. Photographed by Ira Morgan. Screenplay by Philip Yordan. Directed by William Castle. In B&W. 67 mins. 1944.

At 4:30pm only!

————-
Tickets are good for one or two or three movies.
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I WAKE UP DREAMING — Ten sensational days and nights of pre-code crime, proto-noir, and film noir featuring thirty classics and curios spanning the years 1932 to 1965. These incredible films have been pulled from the vaults of the Warner Archive and programmed exclusively for the Roxie Theater by Elliot Lavine.

Just before his wedding, the bridegroom hears an incredible tale that suggests his beautiful bride might be dangerously disturbed and possibly even a murderess! An intricate tale of death and deception that ingeniously and famously turns the time-honored flashback convention inside out. Visually sumptuous and unforgettable. Starring Laraine Day, Brian Aherne, Robert Mitchum, Gene Raymond, Ricardo Cortez. Photographed by Nicholas Musuraca. Directed by John Brahm. In B&W. 85 mins. 1946.

At 8:00pm only!

….plus:

THE WINDOW

The “boy who cried wolf” scenario is stretched to unbearably suspenseful limits when a nine year old kid with a hyper-active imagination witnesses a brutal murder through the apartment window across the way. Naturally, with the boy’s reputation for fabricating tall tales, no one believes him. Except the killers, of course. Exceptionally exciting to the very end. Starring Barbara Hale, Arthur Kennedy, Paul Stewart, Ruth Roman, Bobby Driscoll. Photographed by Robert De Grasse. From a story by Cornell Woolrich. Directed by Ted Tetzlaff. In B&W. 73 mins. 1949.

At 6:30pm and 9:45pm————-
Tickets are good for one or both movies.
—

I WAKE UP DREAMING — Ten sensational days and nights of pre-code crime, proto-noir, and film noir featuring thirty classics and curios spanning the years 1932 to 1965. These incredible films have been pulled from the vaults of the Warner Archive and programmed exclusively for the Roxie Theater by Elliot Lavine.

A blunt and often raw prison drama steeped in pre-code Hollywood violence and cynicism. A brash young hoodlum is sent to prison and promptly begins a one man war against the system. One of the more powerful of the many grim prison dramas produced in the early 30s. Starring Spencer Tracy, Bette Davis, Arthur Byron, Lyle Talbot. Photographed by Barney McGill. From the book by Lewis E. Lawes. Directed by Michael Curtiz. In B&W. 78 mins. 1932.

At 8:00pm only!

….plus:

TWO SECONDS

In the final seconds before he is executed, convict John Allen relives the final fateful days that led up to the tragic circumstances that brought him to the death house. A film of enormous power and scope, featuring a bravura performance from its charismatic star, Edward G. Robinson. Also in at the cast are Vivienne Osborne, Guy Kibbee, Preston Foster, J. Carrol Naish. Photographed by Sol Polito. Directed by Mervyn Le Roy. In B&W. 68 mins. 1932.

At 6:30pm and 9:40pm

————-
Tickets are good for one or both movies.
—

I WAKE UP DREAMING — Ten sensational days and nights of pre-code crime, proto-noir, and film noir featuring thirty classics and curios spanning the years 1932 to 1965. These incredible films have been pulled from the vaults of the Warner Archive and programmed exclusively for the Roxie Theater by Elliot Lavine.

After spending years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, a brooding ex-con attempts to adjust to life on the outside. His search for redemption takes a detour when he hooks up with a cynical dime-a-dance girl. A complex and compassionate noir that packs an unexpected emotional punch. Starring Ruth Roman, Steve Cochran, Lurene Tuttle, Ray Teal. Photographed by Robert Burks. Screenplay by Guy Endore. Directed by Felix Feist. In B&W. 90 mins. 1951.

At 8:00pm only!

….plus:

A WOMAN’S SECRET

When a glamorous singer becomes afflicted with a rare throat disease she handpicks her successor, a young songbird with troubling emotional problems. Complications arise when deadly gunfire erupts. Like a slightly more daft and morbid version of All About Eve, but with just a twist of noir. Starring Maureen O’Hara, Melvyn Douglas, Gloria Grahame, Jay C. Flippen, Victor Jory. Photographed by George Diskant. Screenplay by Herman Mankiewicz. Directed by Nicholas Ray. In B&W. 84 mins. 1949.

At 6:15pm and 9:45pm

————-
Tickets are good for one or both movies.
—

I WAKE UP DREAMING — Ten sensational days and nights of pre-code crime, proto-noir, and film noir featuring thirty classics and curios spanning the years 1932 to 1965. These incredible films have been pulled from the vaults of the Warner Archive and programmed exclusively for the Roxie Theater by Elliot Lavine.

A vicious killer and his gang crash out of prison and hold a group of hostages in a Nevada ghost town where an atom bomb test is set to happen the following morning! Tension escalates to the boiling point as loyalties among the gang gradually begin to shift. Nuclear noir for the Fallout Generation. Starring Stephen McNally, Alexis Smith, Jan Sterling, Keith Andes, Paul Kelly. Photographed by Nicholas Musuraca. Screenplay by William Bowers and Irving Wallace. Directed by Dick Powell. In B&W. 85 mins. 1953.

At 8:00pm only!

….plus:

EXPERIMENT ALCATRAZ

A group of five prison lifers are given the chance to gain their freedom if they’re willing to subject themselves to a bizarre and hazardous medical experiment — one that will blast radioactive isotopes into these desperate human guinea pigs! An ingenious low-budget noir from one of the legendary Kings of the Bs. Starring John Howard, Joan Dixon, Robert Shayne, Lynne Carter. Photographed by Jackson Rose. Directed by Edward L. Cahn. In B&W. 57 mins. 1950.

At 6:40pm and 9:45pm

————-
Tickets are good for one or both movies.
—

I WAKE UP DREAMING — Ten sensational days and nights of pre-code crime, proto-noir, and film noir featuring thirty classics and curios spanning the years 1932 to 1965. These incredible films have been pulled from the vaults of the Warner Archive and programmed exclusively for the Roxie Theater by Elliot Lavine.